IWL “Connecting with Purpose” Networking Event, Fall 2014

Key Points

1.Know Yourself

2.Know Your Room/Audience

3.Know Your Message

4.Know Your Goal

PERSPECTIVE: Main Takeaways

Allison Barber’s four key points of knowing yourself, knowing your room, knowing your message, and knowing your goal provided a fresh, new framework for mastering the art of networking. Knowing yourself is something it seems that a lot of people overlook as a necessary step in the business world and beyond.

Allison said something that really stood out to me – in order to know yourself you need to “find your place, know who you are, and be okay with it”. There is often so much pressure on us to fit a specific mold or mimic another person’s leadership or communication style that we tend to forget our own personal strengths and assets that, if utilized, would benefit us a lot more than attempting to fit certain archetypes. Being our “authentic selves” is something that I think gets lost in translation when attempting to network and move forward with our goals.

Another major takeaway from Allison’s talk is the idea of looking at networking not just as meeting others to move your own goals forward but instead as “building relationships.” Allison challenges us to look at networking from the perspective of knowing the other person, their message and their goal rather than than simply seeking a specific benefit. Instead, if a relationship is formed, business connections and benefits will naturally transpire and have deeper roots and more meaning farther down the road.

Overall, Allison’s talk illustrated the importance of truly knowing who you are in order to successfully “build relationships”. This approach brings a much more authentic dynamic to networking. Ultimately, the more relationships we build, the easier it will be to follow our passions and achieve our genuine goals.

Contributed by: Paige Haefer

Paige is the Marketing and Communications Intern for Integrating Woman Leaders, Inc.